Crossopetalum, commonly known as Christmas-berries or maiden berries, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Celastraceae. It comprises about 30-40 species.[2]

Maiden berries
A species of Crossopetalum, C. rhacoma
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Celastrales
Family: Celastraceae
Genus: Crossopetalum
P.Browne
Species

See text.

Synonyms[1]
  • Myginda Jacq.
  • Rhacoma L.

Description

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Crossopetalum taxa are shrubs or trees, with opposite or whorled persistent leaves with petiole and stipules. Inflorescences are axillary, regrouping white, pale green, reddish, or purplish radially symmetric flowers, with four sepals, four petals, and a four-carpellate pistil. Intrastaminal nectaries are annular and fleshy. Fruits are red drupes, with one-two seeds per fruit.[3] It blooms and fruits all year long[1].

Etymology

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The etymology of the genus name Crossopetalum derives from the two Ancient Greek words κροσσός (krossós), meaning "fringe", and πέταλον (pétalon), meaning "leaf of a flower".[4][5] It alludes to the fimbriate petals of the type species (C. rhacoma).[3]

The synonym name Myginda is a taxonomic anagram derived from the name of the confamilial genus Gyminda. The latter name is a taxonomic patronym honoring Franz von Mygind (1710 - 1789), a Danish-Austrian court official, who traveled to Barbados, collected plants with herbarium specimens hosted in the Hungarian Natural History Museum in Budapest, and was a friend of Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin.[6]

Systematics

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According to Plants of the World Online, 36 species are recognized.[7]

References

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  1. ^ Grandtner, M. M. (2005-04-08). Elsevier's Dictionary of Trees: Volume 1: North America. Elsevier. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-08-046018-5.
  2. ^ Austin, Daniel F. (2004-11-29). Florida Ethnobotany. CRC Press. p. 245. ISBN 978-0-203-49188-1.
  3. ^ a b "Crossopetalum - Flora of North America (FNA)". beta.semanticfna.org. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  4. ^ Bailly, Anatole (1981-01-01). Abrégé du dictionnaire grec français. Paris: Hachette. ISBN 978-2010035289. OCLC 461974285.
  5. ^ Bailly, Anatole. "Greek-french dictionary online". www.tabularium.be. Retrieved May 31, 2020.
  6. ^ Burkhardt, Lotte (2018-06-06). Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen - Erweiterte Edition. Index of Eponymic Plant Names - Extended Edition. Index de Noms éponymiques des Plantes - Édition augmentée (in German). Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin. p. G54. doi:10.3372/epolist2018. ISBN 978-3-946292-26-5.
  7. ^ "Crossopetalum P.Browne | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 2020-05-30.
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